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Ancient History
"Ancient History" is the eleventh episode of the second season of . It originally aired on April 29, 2006. Plot Green Lantern chases the Gentleman Ghost, but then Ghost gets the upper hand until Hawkman intervenes by capturing Ghost in an Nth metal reinforced net negating his ability to escape them. Lantern grudingly thanks Hawkman for the help, and he departs after making the request that he tell Shayera that he said hello. Shadow Thief witnesses this encounter and begins his plan. At the Metro Tower, Shayera and Vixen are working out in the rec room. The two women toy with each other over Lantern. Shayera half jokes about not knowing the proper protocol about getting John back. John enters as Mari is leaving,and the two set up a date, but before Mari leaves, Shayera throws her back her water bottle. Knowing that Shayera joked about "poisoning your water", as she leaves, she throws her unempty water bottle in the trash can outside the rec room, not wanting to take a chance of drinking poisoned water. However John is preoccupied with something else as he askes to speak to Shayera alone. Hawkman's reappearance is commented on as an encounter with her stalker boyfriend, but Shayera seems unconcerned by Carter's return. The next day Mari is off to a photo shoot though catches Shadow Thief phasing through the wall into the apartment she is sharing with John. She and John battle him, but it takes a step up after Mari is knocked out. In the end John is beaten and taken hostage, and Shadow Thief announces he is after Shayera next and he tells Mari to stay out of it. Shayera and Mari head for Midway City Museum to find Carter. Shadow Thief thanks her for coming to him saves having to find her. The two women battle him unsuccessfully. Mari tries to free John, but gets thrown into the next room and ends up buried underneath the collapsing T-Rex display. He then manages to throw Shayera into a wall, but she keeps falling before finally stopping on the floor two levels down. Hawkman arrives, but he is unable to beat the Shadow Thief. Shadow Thief takes both down and he binds them up around the Absorbacron, the same memory interface that gave Carter Hall the memories of Katar Hol. The memories led to Carter Hall's claim that he is the reincarnation of Katar and Shayera is the reincarnation of Chay-Ara. A pair of Thanagarians that were stranded in Ancient Egypt and became local deities as authority figures. John, Shayera, and Carter awaken to the Absorbacron and Shadow Thief forcing their free hands to touch it. A memory flashback is begun where Katar and Chay-Ara are shown being welcomed as royal and religious figures in Egypt. Katar is bent on bringing the benefits of Thanagarian advances to this land whereas Chay-Ara wants to have a child. He insists that it will have to wait, but it is then that Bashari returns announcing another success in the field. He also brings horses as tribute from this new land. Chay-Ara comments that horses are unneccessary for her, due to her wings. He offers to show her and they ride horses through the city, then the aqeducts, and finally into the desert before stopping near a watering hole. He drinks from the cistern, then she does, but she spills all over her face. He wipes it off her face, but she grabs his hand before he can let go. She removes her headdress and they kiss. Hath-Set had followed them and after he alerts Katar to this interlude, but Katar refuses to believe his wife and his closest human friend would do this to him. He observes their return, which seems friendly at first, but when they kiss in front of him, he smashes a section of the balcony railing. He mutters about wishing they were dead, and Hath-Set takes this as literal. A chamber attendant runs away from Chay-Ara's room screaming and Katar grabs her for a moment before going into the room himself to find her and Bashari dead. A poisoned wine had killed them. Heart Broken, he seizes her limp body in his arms before Hath-Set arrives announcing that it was done as he commanded so. Katar yells at him to leave, and the priest looks mortified, now understanding that Katar's jealous comment was in haste not truth. Katar drinks the wine too after the priest leaves and the last sound before the flashback nears its end is the clattering of the wine glass. Then its the linked hands of the Katar and Chaya-Ara, which mirrors the sacrophagus they were entombed in together. The same tomb where Carter found their bodies and the Absorbacron years before. Shadow Thief then reveals why he is doing this: he is the incarnation of Carter Hall's deepest, most unspeakable desires, the perennial villain to the 'reborn' hero. He captures Shayera to reunite them and captures John in order for Carter to regain her by killing John. Carter insteads frees John. John makes a splint with the power ring and goes after Mari. However he does share that bittersweet momentary stare with Shayera. They still feel for each other, maybe even still love each other. John gets to Vixen while Shayera and Carter battle the Shadow Thief. Carter realizes the only way to beat the Thief is to deny him battle, to reintegrate him, and so he does then prepares to bid Shayera farewell. He holds her chin after she comes over to check on him after the absorption. He admits that they were not meant to be together and she is left to herself again. Back at the Metro Tower, Vixen is recovering and Shayera comes out to find John at the window. He finally tells her about the time he and Batman went to the future. He tells her about their son, Warhawk, but then contends that if they are destined to be together, it will be on their terms, not fate's, and for now, he is staying with Vixen Later, Shayera visits Batman alone and asks him to "Tell me about my son." Continuity * The episode picks up on the plot line of "Shadow of the Hawk." * This is the last episode to focus on John and Shayera's relationship. When and if they reunite has not yet been answered. Background Information Trivia * Some scenes in the Flashback sequence share simularities from "Wild Cards" and "Starcrossed" ** In the scene where Chay-Ara and Bashari kiss, it is almost like the scene in "Wild Cards" where Hawkgirl and Green Lantern share their first kiss with the theme slightly altered and ending with Chay-Ara and Bashari falling down together while sitting down and kissing. ** When Chay-Ara Hol tells Hath-Set that she wishes to speak to her husband alone, it is almost like the scene in "Starcrossed" where Hro Talak scolds Kragger for interrupting his and Shayera's private moment and conversation together. ** When Hath-Set tells Katar Hol about his wife's affair with Bashari, it slightly copies the scene in "Starcrossed" where Kragger tells Hro Talak that Shayera should be properly debreifed after spending five years on earth. * Though some fans believed that Shadow Thief's origin was hastily spliced into this episode, Bruce Timm contended that it was always his intention for Shadow Thief to turn out this way. In "Shadow of the Hawk," when Carter Hall first touches the Absorbacron in his flashback, his shadow is seen to disappear, forshadowing the events of this episode. * Hath-Set's "modern day" counterpart is Kragger. * Gentleman Ghost's presence in this episode is most likely a nod to his origin: he was a highway robber that was hanged by the 19th century reincarnations of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, but cast a spell not to pass on until his killers were dead. Given that they've been around for four thousand years, Gentleman Ghost has a slight problem. * The ruler of the nation Katar conquered, Teth-Adam, is the alias of Black Adam, the predecessor of Captain Marvel to wield the power of Shazam and (after Doctor Sivana) one of his archenemies. Cast Uncredited Appearances *Batman *Ashari *Chay-Ara Hol *Katar Hol References *Ahk-ton *Teth-Adam *Warhawk Quotes Category:Justice League Unlimited episodes